In March, people in Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea voted for rejoining the Russian Federation in a referendum. The West branded the move as Moscow’s annexation of the territory.

A month later, the Kiev government launched the first round of its military operations in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which are populated mostly by pro-Russians, to crush anti-government protests there. The operations, however, led to deadly clashes between the two sides.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, met during the G20 summit in China and discussed different issues, including the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said it was expanding its blacklist of Russian companies and individuals over their alleged links to the Ukrainian conflict.

The fresh sanctions target 75 Russian companies and up to 37 individuals.